Episode 2: Viral Video by Daniel Chong and Madeline Sharafian

Before I start the next review/analysis, let me add on to something I had said in my previous review.

I said that this show reminded me of Hannah-Barbera, and it still does. But it also reminds me of The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends. The humor, animation style, and satire is really reminiscent of that show. Although, I must say that the bears are much more interesting characters than Rocky and Bullwinkle.

So, with that out of the way, lets take a look at the second episode. Daniel had help on this episode. The co-writer, Madeline Sharafian, is a BFA3 Character animator at CalArts and a 2013 Pixar Story Intern. She's put a few cute looking cartoons on YouTube, like "Acorn," "Omelette." and "The Mew-sician." You can also check them all out on her Vimeo channel. They're all pretty simplistic and focused on being cute, but they do a good job in getting across subtle emotions. Let's see if she can write good stories for a show like We Bare Bears.

We start out with Grizz photo-bombing, photo-nuking actually, a couple with a "big bear-hug and a smile" (Ha-ha, see what I did there!). He then proceeds to help himself to the couple's pic-a-nic basket, proving that he's smarter than the average bear! Now the show's reminding me of  Hannah-Barbera again.

Now, about this scene. One important fact about this is that Grizz never seems like a jerk during it, and it could've been really easy to make him look like one here. But instead, the writers make it clear that Grizz means well, he's just not very good at interacting with humans. The whole time he's trying to invite the couple over to the bears' cave for a little get together. Of course, this doesn't work out.

We then get our first look at the inside of the bears' cave. And to paraphrase J. R. R. Tolkein:

"Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat. . ." 

Come to think of it, the bears' cave is A LOT like a Hobbit Hole, at least when it comes to comfort. 

Speaking of comfort, DID WE JUST FALL INTO ONE OF BRIAN JACQUES' REDWALL BOOKS!?

That food looks GOOD! It looks so good that I nearly forgot to mention the totally awesome cooking scene Ice Bear has before this. Ice Bear is most definitely my favorite character.

Grizz is a little sad that none of the humans he invites ever actually come over, and then decides to take video of Panda eating and puts it online. Of course, this ends up getting a dislike in a minute or two. To cheer Grizz up, they watch a video of a "cute" Koala bear named Nom Nom.

Now, in my first review, I actually mentioned this Koala bear. He appears briefly in the intro, and you might remember me calling him the "main antagonist." 

Well, what else would you call someone who rides around in limo, and stops only to throw something at the bears and then drives off. Seriously, what kind of jerk does that?!

Anyway, when Grizz sees that Nom Nom has 50 million views, he decides that they should become viral video stars in order to get more friends. This kicks off a fantasy of him and his brothers being internet famous and getting showered with adoration.

Now, although the fantasy has your basic "fame and fortune" aspects, like a giant Grizz balloon, crowds of adoring fans, the mayor presenting him the key to the city, and a literal ton of salmon bagels (He's still a bear, remember!), the fantasy also reveals something deeper about Grizz. He is more focused on actually spending time as many friends as he can. He just wants people to like him. That's the third level of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

So, yeah, I'm pretty sure that we all know what's gonna happen next. Yeah, they're going to make a really bad video. Making things bad on purpose in an attempt to create humor is really hard to pull off correctly. More often than not, these attempts are just so bad that they're not funny at all, they're just bad and painful to sit through (*cough*SpikesingingattheEquestriaGames*cough*). 

Luckily for this episode, the scene of them making a really bad viral video doesn't last too long. Sure, Panda is wearing underwear and toiler paper on his head, but it doesn't overstay its welcome. Grizz crawling into a cardboard box while shouting about how "cute" he is is just awkward enough to be funny, and Ice Bear's ribbon dancing is actually quite beautiful in a comedic kind of way. It's also ironic that they have a panda right there and it's the polar bear that performs the ancient Chinese art of ribbon dancing. Subtle humor is nice.

So, Grizz literally stays up all night checking to see if someone, anyone will watch their video. Of course they get no views, but then Grizz sees an ad for Meme Con, where Nom Nom and two other meme stars, Balancing Lizard and a "cat bread"/Nyan Cat/Grumpy Cat parody named Gluten Cat, are going to judge some kind of meme competition.

So, of course, Grizz drags his brothers to the Meme Con, and after an even worse version of their viral video, this time live and in person, they get a resounding no. That is to say: Gluten Cat is displeased, Balancing Lizard drops the fruit he was balancing, and Nom Nom falls asleep.

Of course, Grizz is the only one who cares, and he refuses to give up. Panda tells Grizz he's being a "dingle," which might be this show's version of "whomps" from Recess. Hopefully we'll be hearing this word again. But all is not lost for Grizz, because as a huge crowd of adoring fans try to mob Nom Nom, Grizz manages to get into Nom Nom's limo during the confusion.

Panda: "Grizz! Stop! Come back!"

Maybe it's a Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory reference, or maybe it's just a coincidence. Either way, I like to spot little things like this.

Now, Nom Nom's actions during the intro certainly do give the impression of him being the show's main antagonist. However, the episode seems to do a good job in challenging our expectations as he takes off his glasses and speaks to Grizz in a rather kind and friendly manner.

Grizz has Nom Nom take a look at their "viral video," and Nom Nom actually says that its cool. This greatly pleases and thrills Grizz, naturally, and he goes on to ask Nom Nom about all the friends he has. 

The conversation then goes on to reveal the Nom Nom's true nature, and the nature of many celebrities as a matter of fact.

Girzz learns that for celebrities like Nom Nom, it isn't about making real friends. It's all about the numbers for Nom Nom, not actually connecting with people. He just uses the fame he has to keep his servants, money, and adoring fans. In short, he's your classic, self centered, jerk character archetype; and he cements this by throwing Grizz out of the limo, taking a picture of him with one of his hundred smart phones, laughing at it, throwing the phone at him, and mockingly calling him "friend" before driving off.

And here we have confirmation that Nom Nom's the main antagonist.

But wait, when I put it that way, Nom Nom sounds like a very bland jerk character. But he isn't. One extra little detail the writers put in him is that he thinks hanging out with people in real life is a thing of the past. This speaks to a lot of people who spend most of their time online social networking or playing online games instead of, let's say, shooting some hoops, walking and talking in the park, or even having a meal at a friend's house. In that way, the audience can see a little bit of themselves in the villain, and that is a crowning achievement for any form of entertainment media. By showing people what they can become, it helps them come away wiser from the experience with a lesson for their lives.

And so, with his Lesson of the Day learned, Grizz goes back home and apologizes for the whole thing. His brothers are okay with it, although Ice Bear gives him a warning of "don't ditch Ice Bear." And as Grizz replies, that's "fair enough."

But wait, it turns out his brothers have a surprise for Grizz!

It leads to a rather sweet ending for the bears that I don't think I should spoil here. You know, I think that I'm going to make not spoiling the ending a regular thing in my reviews/analyses. A little incentive for you to go ahead and watch the show yourself.

So, we've got another really good episode that really takes advantage of the modern, real world setting. An episode that parodies YouTube stars and Meme videos is a brilliant idea. But to be honest, it wasn't really all that funny, but that doesn't make it a bad episode! A show doesn't have to be laugh-out-loud funny to be good. It was actually a very good look into Grizz's character, as well as the dynamic of the bear brothers. And we also got another good moral here as well.

And this episode clearly hits close to home to a lot of YouTubers and Bloggers on the internet. I want people to read this blog and leave comments just as much as Grizz wanted people watch, like, and comment on his video. Now, I'm not as obsessive as Grizz was, but I still know that feeling. I'm sure a lot of us do, and that's what makes this episode relate-able, and thus, good.

I think an A- would be a fair grade. Madeline Sharafian should be ready to fly solo soon enough.

BearStack Rating

2 out of 3 bears

Grizz (The Plot): Grizz leading the bears in being internet famous is a very clever idea. Although the plot does seemed phoned in at some points. The motivation for the whole plot is that Grizz wants more friends, which is kind of flimsy. The scenes at Meme Con and with Nom Nom are interesting though, because that's where the plot really takes off. The plot does lead intro the introduction of a new character as well.

Panda (The Characters, Emotions, and Moral): Poor Panda was the well meaning pawn in Grizz's scheme, but it never became too cruel, like in some other shows (*cough*TeenTitansGO!*cough*). Ice Bear had some real moments of awesomeness in this episode, specifically the cooking scene. Grizz's honest and innocent desire to make friends with more humans is just heartwarming. It just makes the scene with Nom Nom all the more effective. Grizz wants to be famous so he can connect with more people. Nom Nom couldn't care less about connecting with others or making real friends. Nom Nom is a good representation of an actor who pretends to be kind and nice in public, but is really an arrogant celebrity who only cares about himself. As for the moral, its conveyed in a way that doesn't hit you over the head. We see that being famous and making friends isn't the same thing, and that obsessing over fame isn't the way to go. Being famous often ends up alienating you from other people, and that just being yourself and being satisfied with who you are can help you make real close friends. The people that are present in your real life are the ones who are truly valuable.

The comedy is light in this episode. It's like this episode was made with a more serious tone in mind. Perhaps the writers wanted to get the morals across to the audience, seeing as YouTubers are a very large and very much adored and glamorized culture. Other than the cat bread meme and memes in general, the episode doesn't really make as many parodies and jokes as it could. Even Ice Bear's randomness comes off more as awesome than funny. He speaks Russian and Japanese, and he wants to be president. Also, only Ice Bear can get away with eating breakfast with a huge ax! The ending, which I will not spoil, is kinda funny, but mostly sweet. You'll be left smiling rather than laughing. However, lack of comedy doesn't keep this episode from being good. The other aspects are able to carry this episode into the good territory easily, and the subtle type of comedy acts as a kind of lubricant.

Well, after that social satire, I'm looking forward to something a little more lighthearted and funny for next time. I hope that's what we get!

Until next time, I bid you a beary good day!

Ice Bear Quotes:
"Ice Bear charges extra."
"Uhem. Приятного апетита (Russian: Have a good appetite)."
"ありがとう (Japanese: Thank you)."
"Ice Bear enjoys basking."
"Internet famous."
"Hashtag Ice Bear for president."
"Ice Bear should have trained before coming."
"Ice Bear been sleeping for fifteen minutes."
"Don't ditch Ice Bear."